KANNAPOLIS, N.C.—Ryan Newman isn’t sure who will crew chief the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 39 car next season but he’s open to a possible change.

With Danica Patrick joining the organization next year, SHR leadership is heavily considering putting Ryan Newman’s crew, led by Tony Gibson, with Patrick.

They are a veteran group and Gibson’s easygoing demeanor would work well with Patrick and the media spotlight. And Newman seems OK with the potential change.

“I wouldn’t say I would be upset,” Newman said. “I think a lot of (Gibson) as a person. We’ve had success on the racetrack and we’ve struggled on the racetrack.”

Newman has three wins and made the Chase twice with Gibson. They did not make the Chase this year as he sits 15th in the standings.

“Last year, Tony Stewart in 10 races (in the Chase) and with the same tools that we had in our toolbox, he built the Statue of Liberty and we built Frosty the Snowman,” said Newman, who finished 10th last season.

“We didn’t do our job as a team. We have to look at what we need to do to be stronger as a team from the 39 side—from my standpoint, the crew chief’s standpoint, from everybody else’s standpoint.”

Newman said if he could get his crew chief in before the end of the season, that would be beneficial but it would need to be most of the crew he’d be working with in 2013.

That could be difficult as SHR needs to hire extra people for the addition of a car.

“Nothing has been decided yet—we’re just talking about different options and trying to evaluate how we can make our program better next year,” team co-owner Tony Stewart said.

SHR Competition Director Greg Zipadelli has worked as Patrick’s crew chief for her 10-race schedule this year. He won’t be a crew chief next year but will instead focus on overseeing the three-car operation.

“It’s hard to hire full-time people for a part-time schedule,” Stewart said. “We’ve made due with what we’ve had this year and the people we had internally to get through this season.

“It hasn’t compromised her race cars and her performance, but to do this next year, we’re definitely going to have to add people.”